UPDATE: I just spoke with a source close to Pettitte. The source — while acknowledging that Pettitte is somewhat unpredictable — believes that Pettitte will be playing in 2011.

3.05 P.M.: Bob Klapisch just tweeted that the Yankees “heard from a friend of Pettite’s that he’s definitely retiring.” That word came three weeks ago, however, and the team is still waiting for official word.

I’m skeptical only insofar as (a) if there was really something solid about Pettitte retiring, it seems like Kalpisch would make a monster story out of it rather than just tweet it; and (b) why would the Yankees rely on “a friend of Pettite’s” for such a report? They know his cell phone number. And we’ve heard as recently as a couple of weeks ago that Pettitte was coming back or going to the Rangers or whatever. In short: people likely know less about Andy Pettitte’s true intentions than science knows about worm holes and quarks and stuff.

I’m not doubting it and I’m not believing it. It’s out there. I think we need a bit more than this, however, before we can really start talking about Pettitte’s career in the past tense.

Well, Craig, you certainly have all the bases covered on Andy Pettitte. Either he is definitely retiring or he definitely coming back. You are now fully qualified to blog about Brett Farve for next season.